Alister Robbie had been regularly going over his 60GB data allowance, often paying Internode $30 extra on top of his monthly $69.95 broadband plan to buy additional data blocks.

Last year the Melbourne film editor checked Internode's website and found he could for some time have been getting 150GB for the same price. He says he's "pretty annoyed" the telco never told him about the new deal.

"It's annoying when you find out you could be saving all this money each month and because I'm interacting with the company each month to buy the data blocks you'd think it'd come up on their radar," said Robbie, 35.

"Pretty annoyed" ... film editor Alister Robbie.

Robin Hutcheon, 84, has been on the same iPrimus plan since 2008, paying up to $105 a month for his phone and internet package with a 2GB data allowance. When he called the telco two weeks ago he found out he could be paying half the price for a new plan with more than twice the included value.

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"It's the first I'd heard about that new deal; I would've been on to it earlier if I had known," said Hutcheon, from Edgecliff in Sydney.

Consumers are being advised to take a moment during the holidays to check their internet and mobile plans where they could potentially save hundreds of dollars just by switching to a newer plan from their current provider or a competitor.

Telcos and internet service providers often update their plans throughout the year but existing customers, particularly those who are less tech-savvy or time poor, may not realise they could be paying less or getting much more for the same price.

And telcos may not exactly be beating down your door to tell you.

"Telcos and internet service providers rely on the fact that most of us think it's too hard to change to another provider, so once they have got your business, they stop competing for it," said Alan Kirkland, chief executive of consumer group Choice.

"This means that you can often be paying much more on your monthly bill than what your telco is offering to newer customers."

Kirkland said consumers could save hundreds of dollars a year simply by ringing their provider and asking to switch to a better plan.

He advised people to take a moment during the summer holidays to surf the web and check out the plans on offer. Those on a contract should make a note of when it is due to end and make sure they look for the best plan on offer then rather just rolling over the existing contract.

Elise Davidson, spokeswoman with the Australian Communications Consumer Action Network (ACCAN) said customers sometimes see great deals being offered by their existing provider but when they call up to ask about it are told it's only for new customers.

"Providers are under no obligation to tell you about cheaper or better value plans, although the good ones will," Davidson.

"You should be rewarded for your loyalty, but often it's customers who have been with the same provider for a long time who are getting the worst deal."

ACCAN's National Consumer Perceptions Survey, published in September, revealed that many Australians are reluctant to switch providers with almost a third of respondents saying they had never switched telecommunications providers and almost half had stayed with their provider for five years or more.

The survey found respondents aged 55 years and over were significantly more likely to have never changed service providers.

"People are actively trying to save money on other utilities like energy, but when it comes to telecommunications services many people just stay with the same provider, there is a real inertia in the market," said Davidson.

"Your provider isn't necessarily going to tell you when a cheaper or more plan becomes available so the onus is on the customer to check out new plans once contracts are up, rather than just staying on the same plan."

Telco analyst Paul Budde said with customers under contract telcos legally don't have to offer them new deals and the reason they don't is largely because of a lack of competition. He said sometimes a couple of months before the contract expires telcos will offer existing customers a better deal but only if they start another two-year contract.

"Because of a lack of real competition they can get away with not offering the new deal to existing customers," said Budde.

He said that the problem should be reduced with the NBN as since it is an open, wholesale-only network with better margins for service providers, the market would "move to a more utilities based infrastructure with competition concentrating on services and customer service".

A Telstra spokesman said if any customers wanted to change their plan or talk about their options they could contact the telco or visit their nearest Telstra store.

"We'll be happy to work with them and make sure they're on the right plan for their usage," he said. "We also regularly contact customers on older plans offering to move them to newer in-market plans that may better suit their usage."

An Optus spokesman said: "We actively look to inform our customers about new Optus plans and services through a number of channels, including direct mail, in-store customer service, our online store and more."

iiNet, which also owns Internode, said its customer service department will always suggest appropriate plans when customers call but would not switch customers to new plans without their involvement.

Vodafone said: "While we do not contact every customer when a new plan is released, customers are able to contact us to upgrade or change."

136 comments

Definitely worth checking, although why the ISPs don't go to the trouble of contacting customers to advise of the newer plans is still odd for people like me who almost never buy chunks of extra data (I just trim back my usage as the end of the month approaches).

I'm with Internode and a few weeks back discovered I change up from my older $60/50GB plan to $80/200GB! What's even better is that this $80 plan includes using Internode as my landline/copper provider, to replace Telstra - so I'm actually saving money because I don't have to pay Internode for my data connection and Telstra for my landline.

So yes, anybody who has some time, do check that you're getting the best deal from your ISP!

Commenter

David

Location

Sydney

Date and time

December 27, 2012, 4:02PM

Bur what a pity the notion of customer service doesn't extend tp the practice of alerting old customers to ways of using the services more cost-effectively for them. Appreciating that this can mean short-term loss to their bottom line, but surely the customer loyalty it could create would surely more than offset this. Apart from the notion of ethics in business practice of course.

Commenter

Clive

Location

Manly West

Date and time

December 27, 2012, 5:49PM

We too are with internode and were regularly buying extra packets of data. Then out of the blue they called us to advise us of a plan that was same money, more data. We've had nothing but excellent customer service from the company.

Commenter

LRD

Date and time

December 27, 2012, 5:52PM

They're very quick to ring you and tell you your mobile is out of contract and then put you on a worse plan for it. No trouble at all

Commenter

sarajane

Location

melbourne

Date and time

December 27, 2012, 6:05PM

....should contact the telco - yeah has any business got a day to spend on hold ?.....or go to the nearest telstra store - to be told they need to call telstra it cannot be handled by the store !They are JOKING right, you don't win the worst customer service gong for nothing ! ! !

Commenter

selector 2

Date and time

December 27, 2012, 4:10PM

Don't do Telstra! Any hitch, you are talking to The Philipines, last drama was when they had the monstoruos typhoon. Few staff, but the slaves that manned the lines were so stressed trying to maintain their jobs, whilst literally getting a boat to work- if they could.I used to support Telstra as my partner got sucked into the share sell off. Not anymore, I want service and at a reasonable cost.Have since swapped servers and the experience, connection I can't fault. Least I can use my iPad, did waste over $300 on an arial with Telstra! Why didn't they tell me the tower closest was Optus?Anyway, living in rural/country areas comes with some challenges but I will never use Telstra ever again!Why should the customer have to do all the homework!Holidaying in Tassie and yep Optus fades out between towns (so far) but who cares whilst on holidays.Bring on the NBN. Ple, sooner the better!

Commenter

A country gal

Date and time

December 27, 2012, 5:45PM

Why would you expect a telco to tell you their competitor had better coverage country gal? They are running a business, not a charity. Oh and yeah, bring on the NBN...you think it will be cheaper and more competitive? Dream on.

Commenter

ADSL2

Date and time

December 27, 2012, 6:11PM

Why is it capped anyway? My friends back in the UK are always boasting about their 20Mbps+ unlimited downloads ISP's for the equivalent of $10 a month. Why is it so expensive here? And more importantly - why is it capped? I have heard an always-on ISDN connection doesn't care if its passing data or not. They obviously realise this in the UK, so why not here?

Commenter

CappedDownload

Location

Penrith

Date and time

December 27, 2012, 4:12PM

We have 22 million in a country 32 times larger than the UK, on the other hand the UK has 65 million in a country 32 time smaller than Australia.....So the UK with such a big revenue base can offer better deals then here! no brainer really.

Commenter

IanW

Location

Brizvegas

Date and time

December 27, 2012, 5:00PM

@IanW. Your comment makes no sense. The populated areas in Australia are concentrated around capital cities and not across the whole of Australia so the infrastructure requirement is fairly low. Each connection in the UK has to be made to 65 million people which is where the large infrastructure cost is. Up until now, Tesltra has decided the overpriced cost of the internet with Optus tacked on with their limited CATV cable and of course Optus does not leave money on the table so they charge as much as Telstra does. The NBN will set the true wholesale cost and unlike the doomsday people I think the cost of internet access will massively reduce as the real cost becomes apparent. All the resellers like Optus, Telstra, IInet, Dodo etc will buy at the same price from the NBN and then will compete to sell us internet access. Remember, none of us gets direct access to the NBN, we will still have to buy our access via Telstra etc as the NBN will not sell directly to the public. but for the first time, Telstra, Optus and others will become truly compettive in selling access to NBN provided internet.